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Nanotechnology and theEnvironment:
Beauty and the Beast?
Cynthia Folsom Murphy
David Allen
University of Texas
ChE 311, October 4, 2004
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Primary references:
Nanotechnology: An Opportunity for Industrial Ecology
Presented by Barbara Karn at the Gordon Research Conference on Industrial Ecology,Oxford, England, August 2, 2004
Nanoscience and Nanotechnologies:Opportunities and Uncertainties
The Royal Society and The Royal Academy of
Engineering, July 2004
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Nano-
From the Greek word for “dwarf”
Idea of manipulating materials at theatomic/molecular level first introduced
by Richard Feynman in 1959Term “nanotechnology” was first used
in 1974 by Norio Taniguchi
One nanometer (nm) = 10-9 meters
Size of greatest interest is 0.2 to 100 nm
Royal Society & Royal Academy of Engineering, 2004
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9 NNI Grand Challenges Nanostructured Material by Design
Manufacturing at the NanoscaleChemical-Biological-Radiological-Explosive
Detection and Protection
Nanoscale Instrumentation and Metrology Nano-Electronics, -Photonics and –Magnetics
Healthcare, Therapeutics, and Diagnostics
Efficient Energy Conversion and Storage
Microcraft and Robotics
Nanoscale Processes for Environmental Improvement Karn, 2004
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Nanomaterials
One dimensional: thin films, surface coatings(currently used in microelectronics)
Two dimensional: nanowires and nanotubes
Three dimensional: precipitates, colloids,quantum dots (tiny particles of semiconductor
materials), nanocrystalline materials
Royal Society & Royal Academy of Engineering, 2004
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What are the materials of nanotech?
Nanostructure Size Example Materialor Application
Clusters,nanocrystals, quantumdots
Radius:1-10 nm
Insulators, semiconductors,metals, magnetic materials
Other nanoparticles Radius:1-100 nm Ceramic oxides, Buckyballs
Nanowires Diameter:
1-100 nm
Metals, semiconductors,
oxides, sulfides, nitrides
Nanotubes Diameter:1-100 nm
Carbon, including fullerenes,layered chalcogenides
Adapted from J.Jortner and C.N.R.Rao, Pure Appl Chem 74(9), 1491-1506, 2002
Karn, 2004
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Carbon
Nanotubes
First observed in 1991 by Sumio Iijima
May be single or multi-walled
Mechanically very strong, flexible, and conduct electricity well
Potential applications:
reinforced composites,
sensors,
nanoelectronics,
display devices
Royal Society & Royal Academy of Engineering, 2004
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Fullerenes and Nanotubes
Karn, 2004
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Properties of Nanotubes
Either electrically conductive or semiconductive
Electrical conductivity as high as copper
Thermal conductivity as high as diamond
Strength 100 times greater than steel at one sixth
the weight High strain to failure
Karn, 2004
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Atom clusters, Quantum dots
Novel electronic, optical, magneticand catalytic properties
www.oxonica.com/.../ quantumdots.html
www.ccmr.cornell.edu/~fwise/QDAmp.html
Quantum dots: Semiconductor nanocrystalsCdSe (cadmium selenide) of different sizesdispersed in a polymer matrix and excitedwith UV light. Color indicates energy-level
which facilitates “tuning”
Karn, 2004
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Beauty (Potential Benefits) of
Nanotechnology
Processes and Materials: As a replacement for toxic or scarce
materials (such as Pt group elements in
catalysts) Environmental remediation
Systems or Life Cycle:
Potential to reduce total volume of material per product function (e.g., electronics)
Potential to reduce energy costs duringuse-phase of products
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Beastly Aspects?
(Potential Problems) of Nanotechnology
Processes and Materials :Small size increases potential for dispersion
and exposure (crossing of cell membranes)
Relatively large surface area to massincreases chemical reactivity; could act ascarrier for other contaminants providingrapid and long range transport
Quantum effects begin to dominate affectingoptical, electrical, and magnetic behavior
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Potential Problems, cont
Systems or Life Cycle:Virtually no knowledge base (must convert
from a chemical/functional data set to
size/structural information) May result in increased process material
flows (similar to current issues with
electronics) May create extremely complex problems for
material recovery at end of life
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Environmental Aspects of Nano
Green Peace Report –Future Technologies, Today’s Choices
http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/MultimediaFiles/Live/FullReport/
5886.pdf
Royal Society/Royal Academy of Engineering –
Nanoscience and Nanotechnologies: Opportunities and
Uncertainties
http://www.nanotec.org.uk/finalReport.htm
National Science and Technology Council –
Nanotechnology Grand Challenge in the Environment
http://es.epa.gov/ncer/publications/nano/nanotechnology4-20-
04.pdf
EPA Nanotechnology and the Environment STAR
Progess Workshop Proceedings http://es.epa.gov/ncer/publications/workshop/nano_proceed.pdf
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Environmental Aspects of
Nanotechnology in theLiterature
Very little in standard literatureSearch of ACS Journals for
“nanotechnology” returns 100’s of relevant papers
Search on ES&T returns 7, only one of
which has nanotechnology as the primary focus
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Different Worlds/Different Challenges
First Industrial RevolutionAdaptation
AtomsSharp boundariesIncremental change
Science of discovery
Second Industrial Revolution
ShapingAtoms/Bits (Digital/physical Converge)Fluid, mobile, interconnectedExponential changeScience of disruption
Karn, 2004 (Rejeski, 2003)
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Two Scenarios for Coping with the
New RevolutionRip van Winkle Scenario
Slow Learning/Adaptation
Environmental impacts are an unintendedconsequence of technology development anddeployment. Regulations must be applied to
reduce impacts
Vulcan ScenarioFast Learning/Shaping
Environment is co-optimized as a part oftechnology development and deployment,
or is the primary goal
Karn, 2004 (Rejeski, 2003)
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EPA’s Research Framework for
Nano and the Environment
Applications Reactive to existing problems
Proactive in preventing future problems.
Implications
Interactions of nanomaterials with the
environment Possible risks that may be posed by the use
of nanotechnology
Karn, 2004
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Applications
Sensors:
Improved monitoring and detection capabilities,
better controls (more efficient use of materials, moredata on wastes)
Treatment:
Cleaning up waste streams of contaminants, particularly those substances that are highly toxic, persistent within the environment, or difficult totreat
Remediation
Cleanup of contaminated sites with problemsbrought about by prior technologies and past
practicesKarn, 2004
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Applications, cont
Green Manufacturing
Atom-by-atom construction (less material waste) Elimination of waste products and streams for all
types of products by designing in pollution prevention at the source using nanotechnologies
Manufacture of nanomaterials themselves in abenign manner
Green Energy
Solar and fuel cells that use nanomaterials
Energy savings via light weight composites,embedded systems
Karn, 2004
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Implications
Nano-Geochemistry
Understanding formation of atmospheric aerosols
Understanding movement of natural nano particlesin air and soil can help inform the solutions to man-
made problems
Toxicity
Risk analysis for ecosystem and human health
Fate, Transport, Transformation
Exposure routes for both natural organisms (in avariety of ecosystems) and for humans
Karn, 2004
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Implications, cont
Exposure, Bioavailability, Bioaccumulation
Risk analysis for ecosystem and human health
Industrial Ecology
Materials flow changes and environmental effects Design for Environment (DfE), Materials Flow
Analysis (MFA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
Determination where in its lifecycle a nano materialmay cause greatest impact to the environment
Trade-off analyses*
*added - not on original slide Karn, 2004
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Tradeoff AnalysesFirst studies are likely to be between
conventional and nanotechnology applications Life Cycle Economic and Environmental Implications of Using Nanocomposites in Automobiles, Lloyd and Lave, 2003, ES&T, 37(15)
The ripple effects of nanotechnology:Improvingautomobile catalysts, Lloyd and Lave, 2004 ACSPresentation
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/slloyd/SLloyd2004ACS.pdf
Next steps will be to examine within thenanotechnology paradigm
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Opportunities
Current concerns are primarily with toxicity
(related to dispersion and exposure)
Assuming that toxicity can be controlled in an
acceptable manner, MUST consider nanotechologies at the systems level in the
context of environmental life cycle assessment
A unique opportunity to develop environmental
policy contemporaneous with emerging
technologies